Ruth Olson- First Grade Teacher
BA, Psychology McGill University, Canada. ECE Montessori Teacher Certification, Canadian Montessori Academy (AMI). MEd, Waldorf Teacher Training, Antioch New England Graduate School (anticipated 2012)
Ruth began teaching very young, when she summoned up the smallest neighbors on her street, handed out the books and pencils, and her teaching career was off. Since then, Ruth has pursued her own love of learning through her undergraduate studies in Psychology at McGill and Simon Fraser Universities. She has received training as both a Montessori teacher and Waldorf educator. For Ruth, the main goal of teaching is to reflect the gifts each child innately carries, and to be joyful in her work. Waldorf education connects Ruth to what she loves best, including time in nature, making music, and being with children. Ruth lives with her husband, three children, two cats, and a big yellow dog in Chestnut Ridge.
Raphael Paquin - Second Grade Teacher
Geisteswissenschaft, Universität Heidelberg, Germany; Waldorf Teaching Certification, Freie Hochschule Mannheim, Germany; Master of Science as Educational Support Teacher, Sunbridge College
After many years of woodworking, Raphael pursued his passion for teaching. He has been simultaneously teaching and training for the last nine years. He completed a German full-time Waldorf Teacher Training, not only for class teaching, but also for life sciences, practical arts, and English, as a second language. He completed a German university program for the German language, culture and European History. He then received his Master of Science in Educational Support Teaching from Sunbridge College. His areas of research include brain development and grafting education support knowledge and techniques into Waldorf classrooms. His experience includes class teaching, kindergarten teaching, outdoor education, and education of children with learning challenges and special needs. He enjoys spending time with his family most of all, and his many interests include learning, sculpting, painting, art therapy, music, and cycling.
Diana Humphrey Carlson - Third Grade Teacher
BA, San Jose State University School of Journalism. Waldorf teaching certification, Antioch New England Graduate School. M.Ed., Antioch (anticipated 2010)
An educator for over a dozen years, Diana has taught and developed classes in a wide variety of subjects. Diana has been a yoga and dance instructor, a childbirth educator and the Director of Religious Education for a Unitarian church, where she created a multi-aged education program based on Rudolf Steiner's ideas about child development. She taught parent-child classes at the Waldorf School of Cape Cod and taught first and second grades at Tidewater Waldorf School in Maine. Diana is a published poet and enjoys writing plays, songs, stories and verses. Diana is a member of the Anthroposophical Society. She is married to a sea captain from New Mexico; their three daughters attend Green Meadow.
Michael Wilt - Fourth Grade Teacher
BA, Geography and California Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential, Humboldt State University; Waldorf Teaching Certification from Waldorf Teacher Education, Eugene, Ore.
Michael comes to Green Meadow from Sunrise Waldorf School on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Among his previous professions, he has been a class teacher on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, a climbing instructor for at-risk youths in Santa Cruz, Ca, and a yurt builder. Michael has spent much time backpacking, mountain biking, and hiking the Pacific Northwest. His interests include wood carving, biodynamic farming, sustainable living, biodiesel production, and cob construction. He also enjoys cycling, bread baking, singing, and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Elizabeth Hall - Fifth Grade Teacher
BA, Spanish Lit. and English Lit., Minor in Art History, Earlham College; MA. Ed, Antioch University; Waldorf Teacher Certification; Certificate in Curative Education (Camphill Special Schools)
Elizabeth has been a Waldorf class teacher for grades 1-8. Prior to joining Green Meadow, she served as an elementary school chair and on the College of Teachers at the Baltimore Waldorf School.
Elizabeth is a former summer camp director and holds a New Hampshire state teaching certificate for grades 1-6. She has been teaching at Green Meadow since 2006.
Evangeline Wolfe - Sixth Grade Teacher
BA, Music, Anthropology, Education magna cum laude, Cornell University; Waldorf Teacher Training, Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Evangeline spent many happy childhood years as a Waldorf student. Prior to coming to Green Meadow in 2010, she taught music at the East Bay Waldorf School and worked as a pianist, organist, soprano, and choir director. Evangeline's interests include languages, gourmet cooking, and spending time in nature.
Jana Hawley - Seventh Grade Teacher
BFA Music, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA; MSEd Waldorf Elementary Teacher Education, Sunbridge College, Spring Valley, NY.
Jana taught music, served as class teacher in the middle school, and regularly taught morning lesson blocks at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School from 1992-2006. Since coming to Green Meadow, she has taught lower school music, 11th grade music history, and 8th grade math. She also teaches at many Waldorf teacher training programs, including Sunbridge Institute, where she currently serves as Director for Waldorf Elementary Teacher Education. Jana is a member of the Teacher Development Committee, the Festival Committee, and the Child Study Group.
Jane Wulsin - Eighth Grade Teacher
BA, Elementary Education, University of Florida; Waldorf teacher training, Waldorf Institute of Sunbridge College, Detroit.
Jane serves on the school's Finance Committee and is a mentor to many teachers. She has been a part-time teacher in the Waldorf Teacher Training program at Sunbridge College.
Jane is a member of the Pedagogical Section Council of North America, an organization which works with the deepening of Waldorf education, with research and with support to Waldorf initiatives and adult education institutions in North America. She is an AWSNA board member. Jane has been teaching at Green Meadow since 1979. This is her fourth cycle here as a class teacher!
Heather Kono- First Grade Teaching Assistant
BA, Theatre Arts, San Francisco State University, CA; Waldorf Teacher Training, Sunbridge Institute (anticipated graduation 2012)
After fifteen years of a theatrical career in NYC, Heather is happily studying to be a Waldorf Elementary School Teacher. Heather spent a joyous year as both a Sunbridge student and interning in the seventh, fourth and third grade and working aftercare at the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, deepening her knowledge of Anthroposophy and her love of Waldorf Education. Growing up in rural California, Heather loves and feels at home in the nature that Green Meadow offers.
Heather lives in Inwood, NYC with her husband and her four and a half year old daughter, Samantha, who starts Kindergarden at GMWS!
Brigitte Marten- Second Grade Teaching Assistant
1 and 2 Staatsexamen (first and second state examinations), Freie Universität, Berlin.
In 1984, Brigitte started teaching German as an assistant teacher in London during a gap year while still studying German and English at the Berlin University. Since 1989, she has taught German in such varied places as Berlin, London, and San Francisco and has tutored students in all levels of the language.
Brigitte is the parent of two teenagers. She joined the Green Meadow faculty in 2009 and embraces the creative, friendly, and rural atmosphere of this unique school.
Bonnie Johnson - Seventh Grade Teaching Assistant
BS, Resource Development, University of Rhode Island; MS, Education, Sunbridge College.
Bonnie became acquainted with anthroposophy and Waldorf Education while managing a natural foods co-op just out of college. She later assisted in the kindergarten at the Meadowbrook Waldorf School in Rhode Island. It was years later, when her eldest child graduated from Green Meadow and her youngest was ready to enter our first grade, that Bonnie tired of living vicariously thourgh her children's Waldorf Education and enrolled in Sunbridge College, completing the Foundation Studies and teacher training programs. She has been a first grade assistant and afternoon Nursery/Kindergarten teacher here, and this year became a Sixth Grade teaching assistant.
Deborah A. Renna – Lower School Educational Liaison
BA, Elementary Education, Westminster College; Early Childhood Training, Sunbridge College; MS Ed., Special Education, College of New Rochelle; coursework in Remedial/Therapeutic Education and Waldorf Collaborative Counseling.
Before becoming the Lower School Educational Support Liaison at Green Meadow Waldorf School, Deb taught in the Green Meadow kindergarten for 14 years. She has chaired the Early Childhood Section and the Care Group Committee, been a member of the Listening Council, and most recently developed the Social Inclusion Committee. In addition to her many years of teaching and service at Green Meadow Waldorf School, Deb weaves together her wisdom and experience as a special education teacher in the Ridgewood public schools, with her recent training as a collaborative counselor. She is the mother of two Green Meadow alums, plays golf and recently competed in the New York City Marathon.
Angela Nusbaum- Middle School English
BA, St. John's College, Santa Fe, NM.
Angela has taught high-school English and history at the San Francisco and Chicago Waldorf schools. Previously, she worked with young adults at Job Corps, teaching math, and led interdisciplinary seminars for 6-12 grades in Anchorage, AK. She has two children who will begin at Green Meadow this fall.
These Green Meadow specialty faculty also teach our Lower School students:
Eurythmy Faculty
Cezary Ciaglo
Laura Radefeld
High School Faculty
Defne Caldwell
Alix Christofides
Maskit Ronen
Handwork and Crafts Faculty
April Kornberg
Christine Marlow
Michael Miller
Michael Witri
Madeleine Wuergler
Language Faculty
Jennifer Brooks-Quinn
Raoul Cansino
Ivette Lenard
Barbara Lester
Movement and Physical Education Faculty
Will Crane
Victoria Vargas
Music Faculty
Jacqueline Stern
Karen Tallman
Anna Teigen
Suggested Reading
Click here for a list of books authored by Green Meadow Faculty.